


Winchester's

by mustard_squid (orphan_account)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: College AU, M/M, bar au, cas is kind of depressed, dean doesn't want to say he's gay, i want to do sabriel, so maybe that, they're not going to do the do
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-27
Updated: 2014-09-15
Packaged: 2018-02-15 00:42:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2209188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/mustard_squid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean owns a popular bar on campus-Winchester's. It's a great place, doing well. His favorite employee-other than Dean's brother, Sam-is Gabriel Novak, the short, candy-loving ladies' man.</p><p>Castiel is a poor student, getting no help from his incredibly rich parents or siblings. He lives out of his car, instead of a dorm, scraping along money-wise at Stanford. His brother, Gabriel, invites him for a night out at the place where he works, Winchester's. Suddenly, Castiel has a place to live, a better job, and even better grades.</p><p>And it's all thanks to the green-eyed owner of the bar, Dean.</p><p>Castiel was thrown out of the house for being gay. And he knows Dean isn't gay. But that doesn't stop Castiel from falling for his housemate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Bar

**Author's Note:**

> Please be nice to me. This is my first-ever story, which I've been working on for a while. Sorry, they won't be doing the do, because I'm still a virgin and have no idea how to write smut. So...not yet.

The actual bar itself, Winchester’s, wasn’t half bad. There was a large neon sign out in the front, with the name of the bar in big, curling letters. Parking wasn’t bad, either. The lot had decent spots, right near the back entrance, but the other spots were situated in such a way so that you didn’t have to walk more than sixty feet to get to the back door.

Inside, the lights were half-bright, and it smelled like smoke even though there was a smoking ban. Of course, it had smelled like smoke the minute the new owner stepped in, as if what the building had been previously was just a place for people to go and smoke. The physical bar itself was normally packed, the several stools situated by the large window filled with regulars whenever the bar was open.

Dean Winchester, the owner, had only opened the place to help put his younger brother through college. Stanford wasn’t a cheap school, and Sam had no help whatsoever from his family. Or, what was left.

But then it turned into a big thing. Most bars in California went out of business in their first year, but Winchester’s had been running for 3 years now. It had helped that the location was smack-dab in the middle of college town, and surprisingly zero competing bars on that street.

The small apartment above the bar was where Dean lived, alone, but sometimes Sam crashed there in the summers. It was nothing really fancy, with two bedrooms and a single bath, but Dean was proud of his little home and bar.

Usually the bar was semi-filled. Friday nights it was the most crowded, with maybe a quarter of the seats still open. So the place wasn’t exactly popular, but it wasn’t one that went bankrupt after a week.

Sam, Dean’s little brother, worked evening shifts sometimes, but usually on the weekends. The girl who rented out the extra bedroom upstairs, Charlie, was a part-time bartender, as she also attended Stanford. So, it was really just Dean, Benny (the chef), and Gabriel. Gabe, who worked at the candy shop in the mornings and on Sunday, was an interesting character.

Sometimes, usually at the beginning of April, the bar was a bit screwed. Thanks to Gabe, of course. He was a prankster through and through, his jokes making up for lack of height. Well, it would be lack of height, if the rest of the crew working there weren’t giants. He was 5’8”, a relatively normal height, but Dean was 6’1”, Benny was 5’11”, and Sam, affectionately nicknamed ‘Moose’ by Gabe, was 6’4”. So he only seemed short.

The bar ran smoothly. Usually, there were no rowdy customers, but there were the occasional bar fights. When that happened, Dean or Sam usually rolled up their sleeves and calmly threw the fighters from the bar.

Most of the fights happened over who lost a pool game. The pool table, tucked neatly in the back, had only been acquired after the previous owner left it. You had to trade something, usually a shoe, to get pool sticks and pay to use the pool balls for a while.

And so, sometimes customers were banned after getting a little too rowdy. Or, the other main reason, they were trying to get in some poor girl’s pants. So they, too, were kicked out.

So Winchester’s was really a good place. Everyone knew that all of the people working there, except for Benny, were single, and they knew Dean wasn’t one for relationships, angling more toward one night stands. So Dean brought upstairs the occasional girl.

At least, he did. Until he met Castiel.


	2. Attics in Apartments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel gets somewhere to live-finally!

Castiel was starting to get a little tired of sleeping in his car every night. Sure, he could have had a dorm, but he made little to no money waiting tables and washing dishes, so he couldn’t have afforded it. Wasn’t like his dad was going to loan a few of his gazillion dollars to help a poor college student-much less his son.

He didn’t mind, anyway. The back seat could be a bit comfortable, and with stolen, amazing hotel pillows, and a random assortment of blankets, it really wasn’t too bad. Besides, he didn’t really need a roommate or anything like that. He was perfectly content living on his own.

His phone buzzed. It was his older brother, Gabriel.

Gabe 07:09 p.m.  
Hey. Working at Winchester’s. Come over! You need to get out.

Castiel 07:10 p.m.  
Really? Fine.

Sighing, he started up his old car. It was nothing special, just a generic four-door Honda from 2004 or 2007 or something. He knew the way to Winchester’s by heart, as he’d had to pick up Gabriel after work often.

Pulling into an empty spot at the front of the parking lot, he entered the small building. It was calm, usually how he liked the few bars he went to. Really, he was almost a hermit, according to Gabe. That wasn’t true, Castiel just liked to keep to himself. Wasn’t his fault if other people bored him, with conversation mainly of who was dating who. Honestly, college wasn’t too different from middle school.

Running his fingers through his hair, he walked up to the bar, where Gabriel was passing out drinks, self-proclaimed Charming Smile No. 7 on his face. As usual, there were a few girls flocking to the bar-and not leaving. Castiel turned and started to walk out of the bar, but a hand grabbed his shoulder.

“Cassie! Hey! Glad you’re here.” Gabe’s face split into a wide grin. He pulled his little brother into a hug, Castiel squirming uncomfortably. People were starting to stare, and he didn’t really like that.

“Hello, Gabriel. You said I needed to get out? Well, I am out. And now I’m leaving.”

“Oh, no, you’re not.”

Castiel sighed, and followed Gabriel into a booth. “Are you sure that the owner won’t mind you drinking on the job?”

“My shift’s been over for about ten minutes, Cassie. I just like to stay and help, free of charge.” Gabe beckoned a tall, green-eyed man over. Castiel had seen him around the bar a few times before, but didn’t really know who he was. “Dean!” So the man was Dean. “Cassie here’ll have a basket of fries.”

Castiel blushed, and started to shake his head. “No-” Gabe cut him off by gesturing for Dean, who was chucking, to go get the food.

“Cassie, you need to eat. I know how much you make, and it’s not enough.”

Castiel’s eyes dropped to the table, the blue orbs running over the various stains and scratches.

“Did you hear me?” He nodded slightly, and Gabriel relaxed a little. "Great. The fries here are really good.” The basket was tossed in front of them, and Dean slid in next to Gabriel.

“So Gabe tells me you’re a student, too.”

“Too?” Castiel questioned.

“Yeah. My brother, Sam, is a student at Stanford. Studying law.”

“Sam...Winchester?”

“Yeah. He’s my little brother, but he's not really little anymore. Hey, do you need a job? Gabe talks about you non-stop, really. He says you’re just waiting tables? Man, that’s not too good of a job. Especially if you’re a student. How can you afford a dorm?”

Castiel met Dean’s eyes. “I don’t,” he said finally.

“You don’t? Then where do you sleep? Do your homework? I haven’t gone to college, but don’t you need to live somewhere?”

Castiel blushed, embarrassed. “My car is sufficient. And I can barely afford that, as it is.”

“Oh. I, uh,”

“It’s fine. Not many people expect me to not live in a dorm.”

Gabriel had been watching the two carefully, not butting into the conversation. He nudged Dean as so to get out, to let them talk.

Dean got up, and Gabriel escaped to put his apron in the back. Plopping down again, he stole one of Castiel’s fries. And another, and another. “So your name’s Castle?” He said around a mouthful of fries. His green eyes flickered over where Castiel was doodling his name on a napkin.

“Cas-tiel,” Castiel corrected.

“Can I just call you Cas? Friends do that, don’t they?” Dean swallowed, and smiled. A really big, toothy smile, too.

“We’re…friends?” Castiel’s eyes met Dean’s.

“Yeah! So, back to the topic of you living in your car.”

“I’m fine, Dean,”

“You’re not. Anyway, Charlie’s moving out of the apartment,” Dean threw a thumb over his shoulder to point to a pretty redhead who was successfully chatting up a girl at the bar, “And so no one’s gonna live with me. What do you say?”

“Dean, I can’t afford it,” Castiel started to say, but was cut off.

“You won’t have to. I can let you live free for the first few months, and you can pay me back later. My apartment’s right above the bar. You seem like a great guy. I’d love to have you stay. Plus, you seem like a bookworm. The book store’s just right down the block.”

Castiel sighed. He couldn’t really say no, not with an offer like that. And the bar was so close to campus! But he was used to fending for himself, so Castiel didn’t really know if he’d enjoy living with someone else.

“Fine,” he agreed, after what felt like twenty years, even though it had probably been all of two minutes. “Can I see it, though? The room?”

Dean grinned again, and hopped up from the booth. “Come on,” he said, and shouted something to Gabriel. Gabe nodded.

Castiel followed Dean through the bar, and out through the back door. They climbed a small flight of metal fire-escape stairs, and there was the cheerful-looking red door of Dean’s apartment. That part of the building had what looked like two floors, the second just being an attic.

So Cas figured he’d be stuck in some dusty old attic, and was starting to regret saying ‘yes’ to the whole thing. Dean led him down a narrow hallway, pointing to the doors as they walked by.

There was a bathroom, a bedroom presumed to be Dean’s, a small closet. The kitchen/living room combo was at the end of the hall, a rickety flight of stairs leading up to the attic. “Your bedroom is this way,” Dean pointed up the stairs. “You get the whole attic to yourself.”

Cas hesitantly climbed the stairs, and almost passed out when he reached the top. It was a gorgeous bedroom, even if it was in an attic. There wasn’t so much as a speck of dust.

One of the walls started out straight, but then became sloped after about three feet, forming a point at the top. The walls were light grey, and there was a large window on the wall behind Cas.

A bed was placed on the wall Castiel was looking at. It had a metal frame, painted white, and the bars on the headboard stopped about halfway. The rest of it was a symmetrical curling pattern which should have been too curly for Castiel, but seemed perfect. There wasn’t a bedspread, just white sheets. There was a wooden nightstand next to the bed, painted a muted, mixed red. It had a thin drawer at the top with long legs, and a shelf that was close to the floor. A plain, glass-bodied table lamp was the only thing on the nightstand, its white shade pristine.

On the wall opposite the slanted wall, there was a tall dresser, whose color matched the nightstand’s. It had five large drawers, with a smaller one at the top. It wasn’t a big dresser, but Castiel didn’t have that many clothes anyway. On the other side of the bed was a shorter-but wider-linen cabinet. It was the same color as the dresser and the nightstand-so all of the wood was matching. There were three shelves, each with a less amount of space than the one before. The top shelf was the smallest one, and housed more sheets, all white. Castiel figured he could use the other two for books and shoes.

A minimalistic stainless-steel-and-glass desk (which, truthfully, wasn’t much more than four metal legs with a frame and glass for the table) was underneath the large window, with a metal rolling cart underneath the desk, the metal matching the desk’s. The desk lamp was also stainless steel, and resided in the corner. The window had sheer white curtains, ending just above the desk, and even though it was night now, Castiel knew there would be a lot of sunlight that would come through that window.  
“Do you like it?” Dean said at last, after he’d given Cas enough time to take in the room. Castiel nodded, and turned to face Dean, his eyes bright. The grin on his face was enough for Dean, who chuckled. “You said you were living out of your car? Well, let’s go get all of your stuff.”

Castiel practically flew down the stairs, ecstatic that he had somewhere to live. All of his things were in boxes anyway, so it would be pretty easy to get everything upstairs. Five boxes and a couple beers later, Castiel and Dean were collapsed on the old couch in Dean’s living room.

After Dean had passed out, his head lolling comically, Castiel trudged upstairs. He lay on his back on the bed, his feet still on the ground. Smiling to himself, he really felt at peace, no matter how crazy it sounded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Castiel's furniture is the HEMNES stuff from Ikea (in red), the desk is the VITTJSO laptop table, and the bed is the LEIRVIK in white. So you can get a pretty good look at what his room looks like. Just saying.


	3. Kisses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Be prepared, that's all I have to say.

Dean felt that he and Cas got along famously. Cas mostly kept to himself, though. Never played music too loud, never brought home girls. Hell, Cas didn’t bring home anybody. 

Which, truthfully, Dean felt a little bad about. Because if anyone deserved someone, it was Cas.

Truth be told, Cas was also a little gorgeous.

The slightly smaller man had thick, raven-colored locks that were probably as soft as they looked. And his eyes-his eyes-were just deep pools of blue that Dean could get lost in for days. Combine that with a small, pink mouth and tanned olive skin and-oh boy.

But Dean wasn’t gay. No, he wasn’t.

Was he?

Looking back at all of the hookups he’d ever had, they shared some common features. Strong, tanned muscles. Dark hair. Blue eyes. And Cas had all of these.

But now that Dean thought about other men, and what he found attractive, he realized it was just Cas. Just the gorgeous, shy man who lived in his house.

He couldn’t exactly tell Cas. Cas couldn’t possibly be gay, not with all the ladies that flocked over him when they took a drink down at the bar. Well, he’d never really reciprocated their advances, so he could be gay.

God, why was Dean worrying over this? So he had a small crush on the college student living in his attic.

Okay, that sounded a little creepy. But for God’s sake, a crush? Dean had crushes in elementary, middle school. He was twenty-fucking-six now. He shouldn’t have crushes.  
Yet he found himself blushing like a schoolgirl everytime he was lounging in the living room, and Cas came out of the bathroom in a towel, his hair mussed up, water drops rolling down his neck and disappearing into the towel. Jesus, Dean needed to get his shit together.

And Castiel actually seemed to respond to the blatantly hidden flirts Dean gave off. He smiled-a bigger smile than he gave anyone else-when Dean made the both of them breakfast in the mornings, he blushed when Dean’s fingers would flitter over his wrist when fighting for the remote, and he was generally happier with Dean.

But Dean had started to notice that Cas was wearing long-sleeves more often, even though it was a bit too warm for late April. He never rolled them up, only tugged them down when he looked uncomfortable.

Dean ignored it. If something was wrong, he’d tell Dean, right? That answer, Dean wasn’t sure of.

***

Castiel was in something of a dilemma. Summer was almost there, and he didn’t have much of a full-time job. And while he scraped by with the rent, there wasn’t much money left over to treat himself after paying rent.

So he needed to find a job. Dean had mentioned something a week ago about getting another bartender/waiter for the bar, so there was that. Plus, the bookstore had put a sign in the window, ‘Help Wanted’.

Tapping Dean’s shoulder-who was eating scrambled eggs-Castiel spoke in a hurry, afraid that he’d back out.

“Dean, I need a job and yousaidyouhadanopeningatthebar. Please, can I have the job.”

“Sure,” Dean chuckled. Cas really really liked Dean’s chuckle.

He really really liked Dean.

“You can have the job. Sure. And, if you really want, fill out an application to the bookstore.” How did Dean know about that? Dean seemed to know everything about Castiel. 

“Because then I can have you work nights and then you can work days at the bookstore. Plus, man, the bills for the apartment have almost been cut in half since you moved in, so rent’s dropping.”

Cas almost cried. He’d have to pay less-and he was getting two jobs.

“Thank you, Dean.”

“No problem, Cas.”

And then Dean smiled. It was that cocky grin that always seemed to slip across his face, and made him even more gorgeous. Castiel could have kissed him. But the key word? Could have. Dean surely would kick him out, like his parents did.

A memory flashed across his mind.

“We did not raise you to be such a sinner, Castiel. This is for your own good.”

“Your mother and I do not expect to see your face here again. You are no longer our son.”

“Bye, faggot!” Michael.

***

Dean was feeling good. He’d given Cas the job that he’d really wanted his housemate to take. Cas was adorable when he smiled, that was for sure. He was adorable all the time, smile or no.

Dean had noticed that Castiel had been taking increasingly smaller portions, and had been showing up for meals less and less. He remembered Gabe saying once that Cas had had a minor form of an eating disorder in high school, but that he’d recovered. Dean was thankful for that, he didn’t think he could bear to see Cas too skinny.

***

Later that evening, the bar opened again. Ladies were hitting on Castiel, on Dean, on Gabriel, even Sam was there. And most of them were reveling in the attention. Most meaning Gabe and Sam, who’d been giving each other shy looks for the most of the night.

Cas had been patient with the girls flocking all over him, but near the middle of his shift, he looked to Dean for help. Dean chuckled, who couldn’t say no to big, blue, puppy eyes?

But Dean didn’t know what to do. How was he supposed to get Cas out of a situation like this? Cue the lightbulb.

Dean crossed the room quickly, pushing past the girls. He sucked in a deep breath, and grabbed the front of Cas’ shirt.

Pulling the smaller man close to him by the shirt, Dean crashed their lips together. He prayed that Cas wouldn’t hate him forever, but the minute Cas responded to the kiss, Dean’s heart soared. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that the girls had wrinkled their noses, and Gabe and Sam were clapping.

Then Cas’ hands found his chest and pushed him away. The blue-eyed man looked stunned, mouth slightly open and eyes wide. Cas closed his mouth, and blinked, slowly. He then turned, and almost ran out of the bar. Dean was grateful that the bar was nearly empty, but as he stood at the back door, waiting for Cas, he could hear the fire escape stairs banging as his housemate fled to his attic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh, shit went down. Sorry that I've been posting irregularly, I've been too busy re-watching Supernatural, Sherlock, Doctor Who. And schoolwork. Can't forget that.


	4. Moose is Hot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave comments on what should happen next!

The rest of Dean’s shift was all a blur. He thought of Cas for the most of it, and what a goddamned idiot he was. Cas really didn’t deserve that-but jesus, he was a decent kisser. He sat on the couch, chin resting on the back of the sofa. He stared at the stairs, waiting for Cas to come down.

Oh, screw it. You know he’s not going to come down. Hell, he’s probably left already. You deserve it.

Sighing, Dean slowly made his way up the slightly rickety stairs. Cas’ door was open, and Dean could see him sitting on the bed staring at his hands. He sat Indian-style just outside the doorway.

Cas noticed him, and copied his motions, leaving four inches between the two. Blue eyes bored into green.

“I’m sorry,” Dean started, but never got to finished. Instead, Cas had grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him closer, like Dean had done earlier. But rather than kissing him, Castiel pinned him to the door. Dean let out a surprised squeak at the utter look of fury in Castiel’s pretty eyes.

Cas must have seen how frightened Dean was, because he let go and retracted, pulling his arms into his chest. He went from looking like someone ready to murder to a scared child.

And Dean felt obligated to comfort scared children.

He wrapped his arms around Castiel. Cas leaned into him, and they sat like that for a few minutes before Cas finally spoke.

“Why did you kiss...me?”

“I’m so sorry. I really am. I should have thought about it. I should have played the fake boyfriend. But I acted on impulse, and...I kind of wanted that.”

Cas didn’t respond, just pulled away to sit on the bed. So Dean wasn’t wanted. Dean wanted to further the conversation, a horrible want, but he knew Cas wasn’t really ready to talk about it.

Gabe had said they were alike, in the sense that they were both emotionally constipated. Hell, that was too true. Standing outside of his bedroom, Dean began to bang his head on the door.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

The little voice inside him was nagging. Did you really think Cas would say he liked you too, and you’d have an apple-pie life filled with kids and the bar?

Yes.

No.

Dean didn’t know.

His phone pinged, and Dean ignored it. It pinged again, and again. Sam, most likely. Or Gabriel. No matter who it was, they were probably wondering what the hell that stunt was.

Sammy 1:18 A.M.  
What the hell?

Gabe 1:19 A.M.  
Moose is crashing at my place. By the way, he’s really hot.

Dean rolled his eyes. So Sam and Gabe cut the sexual tension. Lucky for him, he still was backed up with emotions from Stanford’s library to Fenway Park.

It was a quarter after one in the morning, and he was tired. And hungry. And a tiny bit horny, or maybe that was frustration? God, he was so in check with his emotions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter was kind of short. Should I do a High School AU? I've got several ideas for different AUs. If you want a prompt, let me know.


	5. I Really, Really Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a sucky ending, but I've had writers-block for days now, plus schoolwork. Transfiguration is hard...
> 
> Anyway, I really, really hope you enjoy this.

Cas went up to Dean slowly, almost afraid of what would happen. Dean was snoring away on the couch, in a rather uncomfortable-looking position. Cas needed to think, and being a major dick a few nights ago had helped. Dean had avoided him since then.

“Dean.”

“Cas?” Dean’s voice was thick with sleep, and Cas’ mind drifted to early mornings waking up to that voice.

“I-um-I’m sorry.”

“For wha’?”

“For being an assbutt. Shouldn’t’ve pushed you away.” Dean’s eyes were still closed, which, to Cas, was a good thing. He didn’t think he would’ve been able to face their brilliant green.

Dean hummed, then sat up. Blankets fell off his body, revealing miles of toned, tanned skin. Cas licked his lips nervously. Dean patted the space next to him, and Cas sat down carefully. Dean snuggled into him carefully, and Cas’ heart took a page out of the Tenth Doctor’s book: he was beating out a samba.

“It’s okay. I’m still tired. Sleep with me, please?”

Too much affection, way too quickly. But Cas obliged, burying his face into Dean’s hair. A suffocating, warm sensation spread through him.

Happiness. He now knew what it was. Cas’d felt it before, sure, but not like this.

They lay like that for hours, Cas feeling too lazy to even open his eyes. A sharp knocking at the door shook them both fully awake, but Dean sleepily flipped ‘the finger’ at the door. Sam burst in a minute later, attached by the hand to Gabriel.

“So you figured it out?” Dean’s finger made a reappearance. “Good. Bye, guys.” The two left as quickly as they’d came.

“I really, really like you.” Cas said into Dean’s hair.

“Me too. I really, really do.”


End file.
